New Delhi, March 11 -- The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an application from the Maharashtra government that sought to halt the acquittal of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba and others in a case related to Maoist links. The court found the Bombay High Court's decision to absolve them of the charges to be "prima facie well-reasoned".
The state government's appeal against the high court's March 5 order was accepted by a bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta. However, the bench declined the Maharashtra government's request, presented by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, for an early listing of the appeal, stating it would be heard in due time.
The bench expressed that there was no urgency to overturn the acquittal order. They advised Raju to apply for a speedy hearing at a later date. The bench commended the high court's order, with Justice Mehta noting the years Saibaba spent in jail for what is now a hard-earned acquittal.
Justice Gavai pointed out that there were two acquittal orders from two different high court benches, and the apex court had intervened in the first order. He stated that under normal circumstances, the appeal would have been dismissed, but due to the court's previous intervention with the acquittal order, they were admitting the appeal for hearing.
Raju indicated his intention to submit additional documents, particularly those related to the sanction obtained for prosecuting Saibaba under the anti-terror law UAPA. The bench responded by highlighting the presumption of innocence in law, which is strengthened by an acquittal order.
Saibaba was held in Nagpur Central Jail since his 2014 arrest. In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted Saibaba and five others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, of alleged Maoist links and activities considered to be waging war against the country.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.